Latics throw it away

Shez admitted to Latics World, "I don't think we played well although we did create a couple of chances. I thought it was an even game until the last 15 minutes when they began to put us under a bit of pressure. Then Mark Crossley (pictured) made three excellent saves, we got a bit of luck with them hitting the bar and you start thinking about getting a point. But in the second half we didn't get going and didn't create enough. The pitch wasn't the best, but it's the same for both sides and I'm disappointed we've come such a long way to get nothing. The ball came back too easily and we were defending too much for my liking late on. We should have taken a grip of the game and sorted that out."

"We've had some chances. Craig Davies brought a good save from the keeper and one's gone across the box. If one of those goes in it gives you something to hold on to, but to be fair the longer the game went on the more Bristol looked the more likely team to score. We have to take care of the ball better as we were very sloppy when we were in possession. We didn't create enough and the strikers need to hold the play up top more."

Athletic had a disrupted coach journey on the way to the game and they arrived at the Memorial Stadium with less than an hour to go before kick-off time after being caught up in traffic on the way. The manager was not going to use that as an excuse for the inept way that they conceded defeat though. Disappointed with his team, he was delighted with the almost 250 Latics fans who had made the long journey south for a midweek match.

He said, "The delay isn't a factor at all, and I would certainly never use it as an excuse. We made things look very difficult but matched a good Bristol side until the last ten minutes. I feel very sorry for the fans, who've come a very long way. It would have been nice to send them back with something, even it was only a point."